The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced on Friday October 6 a tax exemption measure in favor of cattle breeders, who have seen their taxes increase due to the increase in the value of their livestock. “In the 2024 budget, an exceptional measure to support French breeding will take the form of a provision of 150 euros per cow, up to 15,000 euros per farm, or one hundred cows, in order to reduce the taxation of breeders which results from the increase in the value of their stock »said Mr. Le Maire in an interview with the regional daily The mountain.
“This is a strong demand from the breeding world. In these times of budgetary scarcity, we still wanted to access it”added the man who was Minister of Agriculture from 2009 to 2012. During a visit to the Livestock Summit in Cournon-d’Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme), Bruno Le Maire specified that the measure would cost “several tens of millions of euros”.
A “victory for breeders”, according to the FNSEA
The National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) welcomed communicated of the “victory for breeders” what constitutes this measure, which according to her results from its “determined action” to the minister. The majority union recalls having alerted the government for months “on an unprecedented deterioration in the cash flow of breeders, due to an increase in the value of suckler and dairy cows due to market increases and inflation. This leads to an increase in taxes and social security contributions without any real enrichment”.
The book value of cows increases with inflation – even though they do not produce more milk or calves – which increases the farmer’s taxes. This measure is in fact seen as a means of combating the decline in the national herd, which leads to a decline in beef and milk production.
Without tax exemption, “breeders could be tempted to sell a few cows” to reduce their tax, which risks resulting in a “loss of production capacity”noted the president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, Wednesday during a press conference.
Fear about the cost of food
On the contrary, the Confédération paysanne, the third agricultural union, estimated in a press release that tax exemption was not “not the solution to the decapitalization of herds” and did not resolve “the problem of farm transmission”.
While professionals also fear paying the price for the government’s desire to lower the cost of food, Mr. Le Maire assured that he would ensure “defending interests” farmers during annual negotiations between supermarkets and their major agri-food suppliers.
Bercy is currently drafting a bill to bring forward the start date of these negotiations in the hope of a reduction in prices as quickly as possible. “The drop in shelf prices should not result in an effort by producers, but by an effort by distributors and manufacturers”Mr. Le Maire said on Friday.
For example, he will ask the general inspectorate of finances to ensure “respecting producers’ margins”in accordance with the Egalim laws, which protect farmers’ income.